


Runaway

by Whrain



Category: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Growing Up, Kid Fic, M/M, aviator Laurence, child laurence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22257874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whrain/pseuds/Whrain
Summary: It had been two weeks since Laurence had run off to join the Navy. Surprisingly he had ended up in the aerial corps instead.A mix-up which took place after he had signed up under a false name and then - on what his mother would have called a strike of destiny - he had bumped into a mighty regal copper on his way to the Shorewise.orLittle Laurence runs off to get canon going and gets kidnapped by a dragon instead.Prepare for the fic I started to distract myself from the emotional rollercoaster called Victory of Eagles.
Relationships: John Granby & William Laurence, William Laurence & Temeraire, William Laurence & Tenzing Tharkay, William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Comments: 60
Kudos: 214
Collections: The Last Rec List





	1. Setting sail

**Author's Note:**

> First fic I ever put up and actually intent to finish. But be warned, English is my second language and I have no one suicidal enough to try and correct me, so you will have to put up not only with me obsessing about Laurence hair but also butchering this beautiful language ... have fun.

“William”.

Flinching, Laurence huddled deeper into the small perch he had declared his hideout in the past weeks. Until now not even his brother had found him, even though this wasn’t such a thing to pride himself with, considering that his older brothers either had their noses stuck in schoolbooks, or in Georges case were busy wooing pretty Lady’s in an attempt to find a suitable wife.

“William!”, Lord Allendale’s voice boomed once more.

Since young Laurence’s first mislead attempt to flee his father’s expectations the Lord had set a pair of housemaids on his heels, making sure that his youngest offspring wouldn’t become a runaway once more.

“Good God, father he might be off playing with the sheep or something. You can’t lock him inside the house only because he tried to join the Navy once. Many boys dream of becoming soldiers, it doesn’t mean he will actually go through with it”, George sounded rather cheerful, still Laurence could imagine the despair on his oldest brothers face. 

As much as his father despised him for his rebellious mind, his eldest brother tended to worry about it.

At least he heard his father retreat into the house, leaving George to deal with, who remained at the entrance to the stable.

“Billy, I know you are in there, one of your tin soldiers is lying right in front of your hideout.”

Pressing a wooden ship against his chest, Laurence yielded his position and stepped into the hallway, staring at his oldest brother with the expression of a man facing a firing squad. Which would have been quite an expression for a twelve-year-old, if it wasn’t for the straw caught in his unruly blond hair and the fact that he wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“William”, he declared in a voice tainted by the necessity to remain polite around adults he did not care for, “My name is William not Billy, so you may address me by it.”

“Oh stuff it, fancy pants, you can’t hide from father forever and if you vanish for too long mother will think you have run off again.”

“I haven’t run off. I wanted to enlist in the Navy.”

“Which doesn’t please any of our parents.”

“It would please me”, Laurence mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing Sir.”

A frown creased George’s brow, “Are you mocking me William?”

But he only had to look into his brother’s eyes to see that it was a mere reaction of Laurence who was accustomed to being chided.

“Come back inside, you have studies to finish if I’m not mistaken.”

“I know more about geography than you do”, the boy claimed.

“Do you now?”

“Of course a Captain ought to know where he is navigating his vessel to. Which harbours are safe to land in and were the great sea serpents hide.”

“Now, now are we talking about you making Captain already?”

“Well yes! I will have command over a splendid frigate and every pirate who crosses her path will dread the first rings of her mighty guns.”

“Well someone may have payed attention to his geography classes but slacked in history instead. As you ought to know there are no pirates left.”

An information which left Laurence sulking, “Well I guess the French will have to do. Even though the ambassador who dined with father the other day seemed nice enough. I do not want to kill nice people.”

George refrained from telling his youngest brother that as a soldier he wouldn’t have a choice or most likely would get killed instead. It might have deterred him from being all too eager to join the navy, but George did not have the heart to diminish Laurence’s hopes.

After all his usually so quiet brother now talked twice as much as he had done all his life. Even though he mainly babbled about most likely wrong details he had learned about the nautical life, he and especially his mother took great delight in seeing the boy’s bright blue eyes light up in amazement.

Sadly they had made the mistake of inviting a true navy man for supper, hoping that the seasoned captain’s stories might diminish Williams interest in joining their ranks.

But even though his youngest brother looked quite sick at the prospect of limps flying through the air and dead bodies feeding the various carnivores of the sea, he tried to make a run for it and join his Majesty’s Navy not even a week later. 

Their poor mother fell sick of worry and only regained her health after the three days it took their father to locate the boy on a ship bound for Gibraltar which would have set sail the very next day.

George did not know what kind of punishment his Lordship had inflicted on Laurence, but his brother had been hiding from the rest of their family since.

“Your teacher might be able to tell you more about the moral of being a soldier. I recall your next lesson ought to be ethics.”

A conclusion that drew a moan from William’s throat.

“Or”, he started looking with pleading eyes at George who was wearing his traveling cloak which indicated he was about to leave their estate for this year’s season, “I could join you on your journey to London, we could visit the docks and then I will return with the valet to bring back the carriage.”

“You mean you will hop onto another ship as soon as I turn my back on you. Possibly even as a stowaway getting yourself arrested and forcing our father to die of shame. No I won’t be the accessary of your wilfulness. Get back inside Billy and tell our mother I will deliver her message to Lady Berley.”  
“It’s William”, and then he was off running anywhere but the entrance to the estate.


	2. The damsel in distress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a big Lady who isn't okay with Laurence enlisting into the Navy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again.

It had been two weeks since Laurence had run off to join the Navy. Surprisingly he had ended up in the aerial corps instead.

A mix-up which took place after he had signed up under a false name and then - on what his mother would have called a strike of destiny - he had bumped into a mighty regal copper on his way to the _Shorewise._

Poor Genetrix had lost one of her runners, which Laurence later discovered was a fair-haired girl. He asked Captain Harley about it and he explained to Laurence that it was common for the corps to have at least a dozen girls in service in case a longwing may hatch. Those dragons apparently only accepted female handlers.

Laurence had shrugged that information off only gathering that the dragon had confused him for a girl and in all honesty considering cutting off his hair even though he had grown it out to wear it in a queue like most navy man did.

“Genetrix, you need to let the boy go!”, Laurence only caught a glimpse of Harley’s first lieutenant through the small spaces were the dragon’s wings weren’t enclosing upon him.

He thought he ought to be scared but so far all he could think of was their cook who had always given him some pastries when he hid beneath one of the tables.

“Are you alright in there?”, another aviator asked, backing off after unsuccessfully trying to sneak around Genetrix’s wings.

“Perfectly fine, Sir. But I will miss my ship, so you ought to let me go Miss.”

Laughter erupted, which did a lot to relax the tense muscles of the beast.

Laurence patted a single bright red scale, trying to assure her that everything was fine.

“You heard the boy”, the lieutenant tried ones more, “He has an assignment.”

“I don’t care. He’s a child. Harley always goes on and on about how children aren’t supposed to be send into battle, therefor I will keep him, and no one will hurt him. Not like they hurt my Anna.”

“Oh for fucks sake.”

It was Harley’s voice. Laurence had gathered that the captain had gone to look for the officer Laurence was assigned to, if he had already returned from the harbour he must have been running.

“Love you can’t keep the boy just because he looks like her.”

“But he’s so nice! He called me Miss, no one ever calls me Miss and he isn’t afraid. You aren’t, are you?”

“No Miss, but I really, really need to go. I only met one Navy man so far, but they don’t seem like the type who will be delighted by me missing my first appointment and I want to leave a good impression.”

“Harley”, the dragon cried out, “He wants to join the Navy, we can’t let that happen all I ever see from their ships is them sinking!”

“That’s not true!”, Laurence shouted, “Nelson is a genius and the British Navy is the only reason why we aren’t speaking French yet.”

“What do I care about the language we are speaking when it means that you will die a horrible death. No you won’t join the Navy. You are my runner now. Harley go and tell Lenton!”

“You can’t … Do you even know his name?”

“You went to look for his assignment!”, the dragon countered.

“To tell his superiors that he’s been delayed because my big lung decided to keep him as her personal pet! Otherwise the boy might have been flogged on his first day. They are not pleased.”

Which was entirely the wrong thing to say.

“Flogged?”, Genetrix roared, making even her own crew retreat, “And you want to give him back?”

Suddenly the wings around him spread white, one of the aviators took a confused step forward as if to drag Laurence away.

Before he was able to reach out, Laurence found himself heaved from the ground. Mighty claws enclosed around him and suddenly they were airborne.

“You aren’t supposed to be flying!”, Harley cried after them.

“I’m only taking him to the feeding pens!”

Laurence stared at her when, mid flight she craned her neck to look down at him “Are you comfortable? Anna had a problem with hights, only at first of course. Do you like flying?”

Laurence had no idea how to answer this question politely. Did he like it?

He looked down, watching the big city houses of London pass by without being able to make out details. The wind was crashing into his face and even though he wore his new uniform jacket it was freezing so high above the ground. He imagined it would be worse to ride on Genetrix back but at the same time as his body registered the cold, a feeling blossomed in his chest erupting into laughter.

Did he like it?

“Yes very much. Thank you, Miss.”

Laurence thought he could see a smile in the dragon’s eyes before she turned her head forward and a few wingbeats lowered them onto the ground. Genetrix descended upon a flat hillside, where they were greeted with the panicked sounds of cattle realizing the newcomer’s intentions.

Genetrix carefully placed Laurence beside her, nuzzling at his clothes for a moment before turning her attention towards the wide-eyed men, taking care of her future dinner.

“Harley and I will take you on a longer flight once I have recovered.”

“Recovered? Are you hurt, Miss?”

“Oh not really. Harley likes to fret about every little scratch. If anything my shoulders are a little tender but otherwise, I’m in perfect fighting form. I don’t know why those surgeons were so persistent of me returning to the covert. Now if you would excuse me, I’m terribly hungry.”

Which left Laurence with nothing to do but wait and watch Genetrix swallow one cow after another.

He thought about what Harley had said and the fact that the _Shorewise_ was supposed to sail in the evening. One look at the sky and he new it was only a question of hours till he was bound to be at sea. Spending months under the command of a captain who was most likely displeased by being forced to wait for a mere boy.

A shudder ran down his spine at the thought of being flogged. He had known that it was common practice among sailors, but he had thought that his good manners and him trying his very best to fulfil his duty might prevent him from experiencing it first-hand. Now it seemed terribly reasonable he might encounter the possibility right away and he knew perfectly well that it wouldn’t leave a good impression to spend his first days on the ship in the sick bed.

“You look so terribly serious, little one”, Genetrix declared upon her return. She was covered in blood and he found pieces of flesh caught between her teeth. Still he wasn’t really afraid only a little disgusted when she lowered herself onto the ground beside him and some of the filth on her shoulder was caught on his clothes.

“I was only thinking about what your captain said, Miss.”

“Oh stop with the ‘Miss’ or I won’t feel special any longer. And don’t worry, no one will flog you, you belong to me now, everyone who will even try to lay hands on you may talk to these”, she flexed her hands to emphasise that she was talking about her gore covered claws.

“Won’t your Captain be displeased?”

“Harley for all his grumbling loves children. Also now that Anna’s gone, I need someone to help me make Harley eat. He is terribly fond of neglecting his own needs, but he can’t refuse a little boy with a plate full of sandwiches.”

“I can do that”, Laurence declared, thinking that Harley looked nice enough.

“Of course you do. Now what’s your name little one, because my captain will want to know it.”

“William uh… Tailor.”

One of her eyes fixed upon him, once more exhibiting amusement, “Are you lying to me, little one?”

He had signed up under a false name hoping it would make it harder for his father to find out where he was stationed. And if his father resented the Navy, he would certainly hate to have one of his sons bound to the corps.

“No Miss my name is William”, he replied because it wasn’t a lie.

“Well it will certainly satisfy Harley, he will call you boy anyway. Or if he’s angry at you probably goldilocks.”

“In this case I will refrain from making him angry.”

“Good. Now will you watch over me while I sleep? I’m terribly tired.”

“Of course, Miss.”

It didn’t take her a minute until she was snoring noisily beside him.

Laurence watched her for a moment, frowning upon realising that the blood was drying on her snoot.

He rose walking over to one of the whispering herdsmen who had stared at him since their arrival.

“May I ask to be led to a pond or fountain and maybe you can lend me a blanket or two. I would like to clean Genetrix before my new captain arrives.”

 _My new captain._ He liked the sound of that. He liked thinking that he might get to stay with Genetrix and talk to her regularly. She was nice. Harley had seemed nice, maybe being an aviator was more to his liking than being in the Navy.

The clearly confused men obeyed his wishes and even lend him a hand in dragging buckets upon buckets filled with water to Genetrix resting place.

She opened her eyes once when he started cleaning the blood from her snoot, but only grumbled pleased and went back to sleep.

He liked ships. But this was very, very nice. A ship couldn’t tell you it liked you back. A ship wouldn’t grumble and shift underneath one’s hands.

He found himself smiling, even though his arms were strained from carrying another heavy bucket towards the sleeping dragon.

It would take a while, but he would clean her and then he would ask Captain Harley for permission to join his crew. At least with Genetrix he had left a good first impression.


	3. My new captain

He woke to the ear-splitting sound of dragon-wings flapping right above his head. Genetrix had been stirred from her sleep and was now very determined to fend off the culprit.

“We need to return the boy!”, Harley was now shouting.

He stood right in front of the dragon, his hands braced against his hips, a frown plastered on his face, which didn’t seem to be addressed at Genetrix at all.

“His name is William and he will stay with me. He said so.”

“Get this beast of yours under control Captain”, a new voice hissed.

It belonged to a man cloaked in navy blue, who neither looked as nice as Harley nor happy at the prospect of getting Laurence back from the regal copper. If anything he seemed rather annoyed to be forced to endure the creature’s presence for the sake of a stupid little boy.

“The day someone finds out how to control those big lungs they may receive a medal by the king. Genetrix, you see that this man is very worried for poor Williams sake. His service will be regarded very highly by the Navy. I assure you, my love.”

Harley was a terrible liar and even if it were different, the scoff of the Navy man would have destroyed the effect of any reassurance.

“Well you won’t need to lie to me to get me to do your bidding, Harley. He stays with us, won’t you little one?”

Being addressed so directly, Laurence took a hesitant step forward.

“Sir”, he tried to fix his gaze on Harley, hoping the dragon captain might read the sincerity of his words in his eyes, “I would like to remain with you and Genetrix if the two of you will have me.”

The frown on Harley’s forehead deepened, then something akin to guild appeared on his face, “You don’t have to be afraid of her. She might be stubborn, but she won’t hurt you just because you want to leave.”

“Sir, I’m trying to tell you that I desire to stay… with your allowance of course.”

“See Harley, he likes us!”, Genetrix marvelled, glaring at the Naval officer.

“Oh for fucks sake. You cost me decades, you big reddish worm, do you know that? Decades. And you boy? Have you any sense of what you are signing up for? That monstrosity that’s coddling you, rips apart beasts of her own size on a daily basis. Men shoot guns mid-flight. Men, good men die on her back. We call it cutting the straps do you know why?”

Laurence took one look at the leader straps wrapped around Harley’s legs and hesitantly nodded.

“Yes you know what cutting the straps means or yes you know what you are signing up for?”

“Yes I know what cutting the straps means, Sir”, he tried to sound certain but only succeeded in hearing his own voice break in excitement.

“So you have no idea what you are volunteering for”, Harley declared.

“I know it can’t be more dangerous than the Navy, Sir.”

The Navy man gave a low whistle, “Well he has courage that’s for sure. It will leave him with pretty straps once he uses that silvery tongue on good old Barstowe. Our Captain has a certain distaste for smooth talkers.”

“So you say”, now Harley was looking from his dragon, who was ready to wrap a wing around Laurence, to Laurence himself and then to the Officer beside him, “You really want to join my crew?”

“Only if you want me, Sir.”

“Well in this case I’m very sorry to have bothered you, my good man”, Harley’s hand rested upon the officer shoulder, forcing him around and away from Laurence.

“I will just tell the old man that your beast has eaten him.”

A low rumble rose from Genetrix throat.

“You will do no such thing”, Harley declared, “You will simply tell your Captain that the boy turned tale and ran back home.”

“That would be desertion.”

“You have heard the boy talk. I doubt you will find anyone of the name William Tailor who will fit our young friend’s description.”

“You might be right. Those golden locks wouldn’t have served him well on board, anyway.”

There was a certain degree of disgust visible on Harley’s face after the Navy man had given his farewells. Meeting Laurence gaze his expression softened.

“Will anyone Miss you? Do I have to fear that some Lord comes knocking on my door accusing me of having stolen his heir?”

“I’m the youngest of my house. My father has two older brothers at his disposal. No one will miss me.”

“In this case you won’t mind telling me your real name.”

“William.”

Harley’s brow lifted.

“William Laurence.”

“The son of Lord Allendale Laurence, I suppose?”

“He won’t miss me”, and in a desperate attempt “He doesn’t even like me.”

“Not many fathers do”, but at least Harley was nodding, “You will write them a letter.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Well then, Genetrix do you feel up to continuing our journey?”

“I feel up to returning to the ships and make sure Excidium and Laetificat haven’t sunken them already. They are such hotheads.”

“They are hotheads?”, Harley laughed petting the Regal Coppers snoot, “Says the dragon who has just stolen the son of a Lord.”

“Are you a treasure little one?”, she asked excited, “Harley tell me he’s a treasure? Lords are rich yes?”

“Do you want to take poor Laurence hostage and bargain him against gold?”, the thought seemed to amuse Harley.

“Of course not. Don’t be silly. I just want to know what he would be worth hypothetically so I can tell Laetificat that I have a treasure of my own.”

“Tobias? I saw that the blue coat has left, shall I gather the men?”

Laurence watched Harley’s first officer approach. The man’s eyes flickered with interest upon spying Laurence.

“Ha! Higgens owes me five pounds. I knew our pretty Lady wouldn’t give him away.”

“I shouldn’t have let them have him, even if she could be swayed to give him free”, Harley looked back at Laurence standing beside his dragon, “But we will talk about this later. We are short on runners, anyway. Take him and show him how he can be helpful. Then get the groundcrew to check Genetrix harness and we shall be off to Dover.”

“Sure. Come here lad, let’s see how fast you can run.”


	4. Our crew

It had taken Laurence five minutes and a short retelling of his devoted cleaning actions to completely enamour Genetrix crew.

Laurence who had been used to be told off by every adult he had ever met, got constant claps on the back from the gunmen or found his hair ruffled by a passing groundcrew member.

He thought of his father who had regarded his request for a hug with the word _later_ and never even laid hands onto him except to strike him over the cheek if he had misbehaved. Therefore the sudden physical affection had him flinch for half an hour until he got used to it.

Afterwards he was too occupied with being his most helpful self. Dragging packages from one place to another so they could be stowed in Genetrix belly ragging and running to and fro between the corps outpost and Higgens, the groundcrew-master who had decided it was about time to replace some of the leather straps on the harness.

Once they were in the air, Laurence drew bewildered gazes, even Genetrix turned her head once or twice.

“You are comfortable?”, Sullivan asked, a young ensign who had been declared Laurence guardian during the flight.

Laurence leaned back, testing the leeway of his own harness straps, “Very, thank you.”

“You sure? Normally rookies tend to laugh at least for an hour until they lose their voice and have to satisfy themselves by grinning like idiots.”

“Oh… uh.”

How should Laurence tell him that he feared Harley and the older officer might find it inappropriate?

Even though the crew was treating him like their personal little pet he feared that their Captain might not appreciate the attention Laurence drew.

If anything Laurence was sure, Harley must be angry at him for making Genetrix so anxious over his wellbeing. The already wounded dragon surely didn’t need to worry about a strange, noisy child.

They took a break near Scotland’s border and Laurence threw himself into every bit of work he could find to keep his mind of the fact that just an hour of flight would bring him on the doorstep of his father’s estate. His father must have gone rascal with the knowledge that he had run off again.

“Laurence? A word”, Harley was beckoning from the spot where he and Mister Laiden were resting.

“Sir?”, Laurence straightened his back, fixing his gaze on the hills beyond Harley’s head like he had seen some of the Navy officers do, while speaking with their superiors.

Which wasn’t such a good position after all, because he barely noticed Harley frowning again.

“Relax, you haven’t done anything wrong.” 

Laurence shifted a little, now looking directly at Harley and allowed his hands to dangle uselessly by his side instead of clasping them behind his back.

Harley didn’t look exactly satisfied, but after trading a confused gaze with his first officer who just shrugged it off, he returned his attentions to Laurence.

“You haven’t been raised to the life, but I think you might have noticed that dragons pick up… uh on the moods of their crewmembers. And in certain situations they may act upon them”, there was a heavy note on the last sentence.

“I apologize for causing Genetrix any distress”, Laurence blurted, “I was trying to refrain from bothering her.”

“You are her runner, bothering her is exactly what you signed up for. You would be surprised how much distraction a dragon needs to be kept from going around scaring random passers-by.”

“I… Is Genetrix bored? I did not know I was needed elsewhere. Higgens seemed happy to keep me occupied so I thought….”

“Calm down. Good grief you are a skittish one. You have done nothing wrong, you just seem so stiff and Genetrix thinks you are unhappy because she took you away from your family’s treasures. Right now, she’s convinced you tried to join the Navy because you wanted to make your own fortune and she’s keeping you from it.”

“Oh but I’m not upset at all!”, Laurence cried out looking over to were Genetrix was sleeping.

A smile tucked on Harley’s lips upon witnessing this outburst, “You may show her that once she wakes up and quit making such a serious face, you have befriended my bloody dragon and she’s one of the very best old England has to offer!”

Even though he did not approve of his Captain’s language, Laurence found himself returning Harley’s smile and when all work he could do was done and Genetrix stirred again he drew every register to assure her of his utter devotion to his newfound cause.

“Please do not fret Miss. I’m perfectly happy here with you. I never even glimpsed my father’s treasures and he wouldn’t have shared them anyway. Also as long as I can’t share my treasure with you and your crew, I won’t care to gain any for myself.”

Laurence had seen enough of English society to know that capital was a high valued thing and he had been forced to read enough books to know that dragons took an extraordinary liking to things of value.

Personally he couldn’t fathom how a heap of gold could even compare to watching that smile appear in Genetrix eyes, whenever he tried his very best to make her representable after feeding. The crew currently busy with packing up their own belongings, shot him bemused gazes once in a while. Laurence wasn’t bothered by it, Harley seemed to appreciate his efforts nearly as much as Genetrix did even though he had commented on her getting pampered by Laurence, but he had smiled all the while, so Laurence took it as a well-meant blow.

“Not my crew”, Genetrix grumbled, shifting a little to grant him easier access to the gore covering her shoulder.

Laurence, to her great pleasure, found himself puzzled by the words.

“It’s not my crew little one it’s ours. After all you just told me you would share your treasure with us”, she lowered her voice, trying to whisper which meant that only half of the man surrounding them might understand her next words, “Though if we would go and steel some from your Sire, we may not share it with Harley. Laiden tells me he will just spend it on light company.”

“Light company?”, Laurence repeated remembering George using the word to refer to some Lady Love of Lord Bailey.

“Well you know down at the docks….”

“Genetrix!”, one of the belly-men, Raloy, cried out.

The dragon shook her head dismissively “You humans and your strange mating habits. Anyway if it comes to treasure, I may take Harley’s share to govern it in his stead.”

“Are you already plotting my retirement, old girl?”, Harley wondered stepping onto her forearm, “Is our boy offering you gold in exchange for my post?”

“Oh never!”, the dragon exclaimed and in a nearly artistic manoeuvre managed to throw Harley a few feet in the air and catch him again in her talons. Her captain didn’t even flinch.

Rising she lifted him up with her, so he could look her in the eye, “I wouldn’t trade you for the biggest sapphire in the world! Not even if it was as big as yourself!”

“That’s very reassuring, old girl”, he said patting her fiery red snoot, a curious expression appeared on his face and he cocked his head.

Had he missed a spot?, Laurence wondered.

“Is something wrong?”, Genetrix asked clearly fretting she might have upset her Captain.

“Oh it’s nothing. Just nice to be able to pet you after feeding, without having to look for the nearest river.”

“Oh! You may just tell the boy he has done well.”

“Laurence.”

Said boy was beaming up at him.

“Yes, Sir?”

“Well done.”


	5. Old friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Laurence gets to Dover covert. Harley has to explain why his dragon kidnapped a Lord's son and Laurence is just being adorable asking a lot of stupid questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still filled with spelling errors and terrible grammar, but I'm still hoping you will enjoy this new installment of: What are you doing Laurence - aviator edition.

Dover Covert was buzzing with activity and having realized that Harley wouldn’t mind some impropriety Laurence indulged himself by staring at every dragon which passed them or was big enough to be recognized from up high.

Sullivan provided names to the different colours and sizes, besides the well-known regal coppers and the common yellow reapers, there were longwings the dragons which only took female captains, some Greylings and an Angelwing which oddly shaped wings drew Laurence attention.

They were passed by a Parnassian named Probitatis, who called a greeting before vanishing in the distance. Two Winchesters were practicing there turns above the courtyard of the Covert, their quick wingbeats made it look like two specks of yellow and brown chasing each other through the blue sky.

“Stella!”, Genetrix cried when they touched down into one of the clearings.

A bluish dragon with a tail shaped like a morning star lifted her head over the treeline to spy at the newcomers.

“What are you doing here?”, she didn’t sound very happy to see Genetrix and her eyes tightened to slits upon seeing the regal coppers crew disembarked.

Laurence recognized with some confusion that Genetrix seemed glad to draw the displeasure of the other dragon. 

Until Stella discovered Laurence, frozen next to Genetrix leg and something akin to a sneer came over her lips, “Well that’s certainly not your Anna.”

A wounded sound escaped Genetrix throat and she reached out as if to grab Laurence.

“That’s William, he’s my new runner”, Genetrix explained somewhat distant.

Less proud than Laurence had hoped she would be.

“Well we will see how long he lasts. You never take proper care of your charges.”

A low growl filled the air and Stella vanished back into her own clearing.

“How dare she”, the regal copper hissed.

“Pray, don’t worry about it you know what a temper she has, I will speak to Captain Acker. We can’t have the two of you square up during our stay.”

“I would beat her.”

There was a troubled expression on Harley’s face, “Of course old girl. Laurence.”

The boy flinched as if he had been caught with a hand in the cookie glass.

Harley noticed uncomfortably that his eyes had been fixed on the trees separating the two clearings. “You may accompany me to the Admiral’s office, you might as well be there when Lenton hands me my ass for dragging along a stray. And don’t pull that face I am your senior officer you don’t get to correct my language.”

Latter drew a chuckle form a few of the crewmembers who were carrying away some of Genetrix gear, only to vanish into town afterwards. They hadn’t been on Scottish soil for a while.

Harley occupied himself by explaining the daily routine of a covert to Laurence, who listened with great interest even though his gaze wandered over the prone dragons, who were stretching themselves in their respective clearings.

“Sir? Is this also a regal copper”, Laurence wondered aloud, pointing at a dragon Harley knew to be a hatchling of Genetrix.

“Yes, his name is Claritas, his Sire had a very light colouring”, he added suspecting that the Regal Copper had drawn Laurence attention for his unusual scales.

“Oh”, the boy sounded weirdly bewildered by this intelligence.

“A dragon’s complexion normally doesn’t bare them disadvantages at least not for one of his size”, Harley tried.

“Oh no he looks very nice”, the dragon gave a little satisfied grumble which gave the lie to the idea that he was sleeping.

Laurence shifted a little uncomfortable until his curiosity got the better of his manners, “Only he is so small.” 

Claritas head rose at once an outraged expression on his face and Harley could not master himself enough to refrain from laughing.

“Small?”, the dragon boomed.

Laurence looked far more embarrassed than scared even though Claritas rose with surprising speed, blustering himself until he was displaying his full height and bulk.

“Oh you are very big and very pretty”, the boy eagerly assured, “It’s just that your mother is … seems… uh larger.”

“My mother?”, Claritas fixed his gaze on Harley, “Oh… you are of Genetrix crew. It’s nice to see you again.”

Then Claritas lowered his head in an attempt to level his gaze with Laurence’s.

“The females are always _a little_ bigger.”

Laurence who had easily picked up the urging undertone of Claritas words nodded very seriously, “Of course, it makes perfect sense. I haven’t met many dragons besides Genetrix. So I apologize if I have given offense.”

Taken aback from the polite manners of the boy in a rumpled navy uniform Claritas drew his head back, “Oh… no, of course not. You didn’t know better. Also curiosity is a good thing in human hatchlings, I guess. Makes you less blunt.”

Laurence beamed at him which seemed to do the trick not only with Harley’s crew members but also a forty-ton dragon.

After manging to usher his new runner farther on before another heavy-weight might try to claim him, Harley found himself faced with the prospect of getting a twelve-year-old boy in Navy blue through the bursting mess hall.

Officers and Captains alike turned their heads, some of the servants stopped in their tasks and two boys roughly around Laurence age froze mid play to stare at his coat.

Harley could practically feel self-consciousness radiate from Laurence, even though he was pretty sure that the boy thought himself unpresentable while all onlookers were further disturbed by his straight-backed stance. If Harley didn’t know better, he would have suspected that Laurence had already served under a stern Captain, by now he was pretty sure the boy’s behaviour was the fault of an overly attentive father.

Whatever the reason he sized Laurence by the shoulder and dragged him out of sight.

“We need to get you knew clothes, after this.”

“I have already written to my father”, Laurence offered avoiding his gaze.

“When did you manage to get this message delivered?”

“When we made camp at the Scottish border.”

“Well as much as I appreciate you getting me in further trouble, before I even managed to convince Lenton of your legitimacy as my runner, I was thinking about a uniform rather than whatever Lady’s make their twelve-year old sons wear this time of the season.”

“Oh”, there was a spark in Laurence eyes, “Certainly Sir, a uniform would be very proper indeed.”

“Well let’s hope Lenton doesn’t get the both of us drawn and quartered for messing up the usual command change.”

Not, Harley added to himself, that there was ever anything usual when dragons were involved.

They were greeted by Lenton’s adjutant, who told them to wait, for Lenton was in the midst of a conference with some of the local senior captains.

Harley, always at a lack of patience, found himself pacing the short hallway in front of Lenton’s office door, meanwhile Laurence sat at the chair that had been pointed out to him, hands folded in his lap, gaze fixated on the portrait of the first Longwing Captain on the wall. Queen Elizabeth’s handmaiden though far from beautiful, was probably peculiar enough to gain the boy interest.

“Longwings only take female Captains”, he started only to find his hopes for a diversion squashed by Laurence nodding very seriously.

“Ensign Sullivan told me about it during our flight. He also mentioned that it’s impolite to call the… female Captains Miss. Which I do not understand. They are Ladies after all.”

By the tone in Laurence words he was rather appalled by the prospect of taking that questionable term of dignity from them.

Harley was stifling a laugh, “Would you call me Mister?”

“No of course not… oh”, the poor boy took on the colour of an overripe tomato.

“No need to be ashamed. Our Ladies would have set your head straight right away. Better to be embarrassed for asking, than for using the wrong address, right?”

Words Harley regretted once he witnessed Laurence horrification at the prospect.

Who on earth raised their kid like that?

He didn’t get the time to reassure Laurence that no one around here cared much for proper behaviour. Lenton’s door was flung open, a few aviators returning to their postings in a haste.

The adjutant slipped in to inform Lenton of their attendance, beckoning them to follow only a moment later.

“I’m curious, how long will it take till Lord Allendale comes storming into my coven demanding his son back and your beast put down?”

Lenton was a lanky man, what he lacked in shoulders he made up in legs. Which didn’t make his posture less impressive, standing behind the mighty wooden office desk, golden bars glittering on his bottle green coat.

Laurence was appropriately impressed and foremost intimidated by the stern gaze Lenton had aimed at him.

Harley would have been tempted to laugh, hadn’t it been apparent that Laurence would not realize for himself that Lenton was, at worst, annoyed by Genetrix persistent and he certainly wouldn’t blame Laurence for it.

Lenton seemed to come to the same conclusion, “You want to be here?”

Laurence gave a stern nod, taking a stand as if he was expecting to be caned for defiance, eyes fixed on a spot above the admiral’s head.

They exchanged a glance and upon Harley’s silent approval Lenton’s gaze softened.

“Well then, lets get you properly dressed. Blue certainly isn’t the right colour for an ongoing aviator.”

Words that earned Lenton one of those beaming smiles that had charmed a forty-pound dragon and her whole crew.

Lenton ordered his assistant to take Laurence to the armoury, fetch him a coat and refrain the old weapons master from pressing a sword onto the boy.

Harley didn’t doubt for a moment that he would find a cutlass at Laurence hip upon his return.

“Why am I not surprised that your Genetrix has claimed another ray of sunshine”, Lenton’s gaze became more intent, “I’m sorry about Anna. She was a promising girl and I know you considered yourself her warden.”

“Thank you”, Harley returned stiffly, applying Laurence trick of staring at a spot beyond Lenton.

“But I suppose you didn’t take a detour from Gibraltar to fetch a Lord’s son as your new runner.”

“I was hoping you could spare Keynes. He was after all present at Genetrix hatching.”

“Her air-sacks? I thought she has outgrown the danger.”

“They haven’t collapsed”, he ran a nervous hand through his hair, “But even though she won’t admit it she’s out of balance when she’s aloft and I fear one of them might get… crushed by her rips. She’s certainly not fit for fighting and since Laetificat’s arrival there is no immediate need for her in the Gibraltar covert. With your allowance I would like to allow Keynes to set my mind at ease before you give us a new posting.”

“I doubt that Keynes will be able to do any such thing, but the officer’s hall has quite nice brandy which might do the trick, even though the effects may be temporary.”

“As tempting as it sounds, you might remember I have a twelve-year-old who has never been inside a covert.”

“A covert filled with boys and girls among his age, he won’t be bored, and he certainly will get into trouble so you might as well let it happen now and enjoy the rest of the day.”

“Seems like a sound argument.”

“That’s why I’m the one adorned with the invidious title of admiral.”


	6. Of frogs and broken eggs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Genetrix is a helicopter mum and Laurence is terrible at making friends.

Laurence was smiling from ear to ear, tugging on the neckcloth and rebuttoning the coat he had been given.

He wasn’t above excitement for the sword-belt – presently empty - which smartly was tugged around his hips, nor could he deny his pride of the fact, that he was grown enough that the weapons master didn’t have to punch an additional whole into the leather.

Lenton’s assistant – Faustus – also had presented him with a black velvet band to set his hair into a queue, which proofed kind of a challenge since it didn’t have quite the right length though he couldn’t tell if it was too long or too short to look proper.

Anyway he found he looked quite presentable, which without question would delight Genetrix.

After learning from a short note addressed to Faustus that Captain Harley and the admiral had gone to the officer’s club, he was determined to learn as much of covert life as possible.

He considered finding Sullivan, but it was most likely that he had gone to Dover town and even if not, he might not be keen on chaperoning an ignorant boy.

After all he wasn’t in any need of a chaperone, anyway.

Since Harley had pronounced a general leave for all crewmembers, no one would miss him till the morning bell and if he didn’t turn up any useful revelations on his own, he could always go and ask Genetrix.

That’s how he ended up on an open space somewhere near the feeding pits, having followed the laughter of several children.

Six boys and two girls all of them between ten and fourteen, re-enacting some battle more fictional than historical accurate.

Half of them were screaming in something resembling French and even though Laurence had despised his language lessons he could not help but cringe at the mangled vocalisation of a shouted demand for freedom.

One of the boys spotted him, lurking at the edge of their imagined battlefield. He froze and as punishment got hit over the head with a wooden stick.

“Oi!”, one of the bigger boys called out, “You just gonna stand there or join our ranks? The frogs are already outnumbered.”

Laurence, casting a quick look at the assembled children, quickly noticed their disarrayed clothing and even though some of their states might be explained by the nature of their occupation, which included quite a great deal of rolling through the grass, some of them simply lacked jackets, buttons or their neckcloths.

The thought of ruining his only good set of clothes, especially since he was lacking the capital of supplying himself with a second or third set, at least for now, was not really to be deemed exciting.

“Oh, I fear I have to decline. I will leave you to your…entertainment.”

“Oh my, fancy words. You are the Lady Coppers new pet. Stella told me about your, I’m on her groundcrew.”

He certainly looked the part, if Laurence was any judge, brought shouldered giving the impression of a walking barrel.

“I’m Andrew Hughes.”

“William Laurence it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Do you think it can speak normally?”, the boy who had been clubbed over the head chuckled.

“Shut up Harvey”, Hughes growled.

“You might be able to stuff down twice as many pies than any of us, but no one’s scared of you Andy. And I think newbie here has volunteered to be the Bonaparte of our play”, he swung his stick around as if to point with the tip of a blade at Laurence, “He splutters pretty enough if you ask me. Also I may remind the Frogs that they have already lost. The British might show mercy if you bring them the head of your general”, there was an evil gleam in Harvey’s eyes and one of the boys threw a stick at Laurence feet.

Accompanying the gesture with a terribly pronounced “Va te faire foutre, Bonaparte”, a phrase Laurence wasn’t completely convinced actually meant, what he had been trying to say.

“Oh stop it, you meanies. He did do nothing to you”, Hughes tried to intervene once more.

“Well if you are such a sympathizer”, he seemingly hadn’t used this word before, “You may commit treason and we will have your head as well.”

Which was threat enough to silence Hughes, even thought the big boy uneasily shifted from one leg to the other, watching Harvey approach.

“Well Bony pick it up.”

Laurence did as he was asked, wondering if he should mention that he had the benefit of fencing lessons, while most of his opponents seemed to heedlessly swing their makeshift weapons at the nearest target.

Even George who was anything, but a passionate fencer possessed more grace during their sparring lessons than Harvey and his band of madly grinning boys and girls.

Though Laurence doubted they would appreciate the offer of an opportunity to withdraw from this challenge, it seemed the gentlemanly thing to do.

Just as he was about to voice his concerns regarding the fairness of this conflict, mighty wingbeats rendered his attempts useless.

Genetrix descended upon the clearing, all of them stumbling back to clear enough space for her to land.

“What’s going on?”, she demanded to know, looking suspiciously at the sticks some of the kids had failed to drop, in time.

“N-Nothing”, Harvey stammered, looking rather appalled at the dragon’s bloody chops.

Genetrix had apparently been feeding in earshot, not that any of them had noticed.

Laurence found it peculiar that children who were brought up in the corps seemed to be afraid of Genetrix who seemed to him less of a threat than her bad breath could present. He would have to clean her, again.

She completely ignored Harvey’s words instead eyeing Laurence and Hughes who had used the chaos of Genetrix arrival to position himself alongside Laurence.

“Are you alright?”, she didn’t even wait for an answer, “Why are you with those terrible children who have no manners whatsoever? They don’t even have proper uniforms! And this one belongs to Stella”, to her the latter seemed the most urgent objection.

“Genetrix this is Hughes and you do not need to worry about him. He was protecting me.”

Which apparently was entirely the wrong thing to say.

“Protecting you?”, Genetrix railed back, one of her talons snatching Laurence.

Before he could do anything to soothe her, the children were running into the sparse cover of the surrounding trees.

“Ghastly creatures”, Genetrix mumbled, taking off, clearly satisfied that she had scared off his attackers.

Laurence spotted the glittering surface of water once they were airborne.

“Would you care to land at that lake? I might be able to clean you off more easily if you would just wade into the water.”

“You want me to go swimming? Certainly not little one. But you might clean me by the lake after all.”

She had spotted a small light-weight sunbathing on the outskirts of the lake.

“Volly! Be a dear and fetch me some blankets from the groundcrew men. Soft ones if you will. I will make sure you may get an extra cow for your pains.”

The promised cow did the trick and after a joyous greeting the slim dragon took off in the rough direction of the covert.

“It will be of course one of Stella’s”, Genetrix confided, “One learns one or two things in service of the corps.”

If he didn’t know better, he would have claimed to see her wink at him.

“Why did you call those children terrible? They seemed very nice at first, if a little rumpled”, he added begrudgingly.

“But did they remain nice?”, again no answer required, “No they didn’t, they are orphans from Dover and only a handful of them ever becomes anything but a nuisance to the corps. And the few with potential get wasted on dragons like Stella.”

“May I ask how it came to this hostility between the two of you?”

Genetrix dropped dramatically to the ground, which, for a moment, made the earth beneath Laurence’s feet tremble.

“She accuses me of having lost her egg, deliberately if you can believe it. Although she has never been in a serious fight and can’t even fathom how chaotic it can get. I am very sorry to have lost the egg, but I do not think it justifies her behaving as if I did walk around squashing eggs and my crew just because I am clumsy. I did take proper care of you after all, didn’t I?”

“Of course, Miss.”

There was this rewarding rumble again.

Volly returned with, what looked like, the whole coverts supply of worn sheets.

Genetrix kept on refusing to set one foot onto the water, but she willingly obliged Laurence cleaning administrations and as it became their habit fell asleep after a while.

Upon their return Laurence begged her to refrain from tell Harley, about what had occurred with the other children.

“Well why ever should I bother him? I am quite capable of keeping an eye on all of you little rascals. If you become a second Sully, I will have to start worrying about letting the two of you take your leave in turns.”

Said ensign returned with a slice of cake, he had saved for Laurence, before retreating to the barracks up the hill.

Laurence remained with Genetrix, having promised her to stay until Harley’s arrival.

But when the cake was eaten and she had fallen asleep, he heard a familiar voice, coming from the adjoining clearing.

He slipped away, leaving his charge in her slumber and found himself in the midst of busy aviators shuffling around packages and harnessing Stella, who only spared him a look, before looking pointedly in the other direction.

He found Hughes standing aside from all the buzzing and learned after inquiring that he had been told to clear away for the more skilled hands to finish the last preparations.

“So you are leaving?”, Laurence wondered.

“Yes it seems the admiral decided that the Scottish channel patrols could use another heavy-weight.”

“So you will be fighting soon, congratulations”, at least Laurence thought this reaction to be appropriate, considering Hughes clear excitement. Even tough Laurence found himself a little disappointed to loose, the only boy around his age who had seemed to be nice.

“Oh Stella and the proper aviators certainly will encounter some Frogs. Me? I will learn how to properly stitch up a harness”, which seemed to be an even more satisfying prospect.

“I just came to thank you for your support”, Laurence declared before silence could spoil Hughes good mood, “I will try to stay clear of your… friends.”

“Well I didn’t do much except for turning tail once little Harvey threatened me. So I don’t think I deserve your thanks.”

“I agree to disagree.”

“You would have thought them, wouldn’t you?”

“Well I have had fencing lessons”, Laurence said, feelings his cheeks burning. He wasn’t very keen on boasting.

Which did make Hughes roaring laughter even more irritating.

“It was seven against one!”

Laurence raised one of his brows, “I suppose”, he tried carefully, realizing that there was some kind of joke, he didn’t understand.

His confused expression earned him a heartfelt clap on the shoulder, “Ah you will end up Captaining one hell of a beast if you don’t get yourself killed before you come off age. Anyway I have to go. It was… how did you say? A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Godspeed”, Laurence returned, watching Hughes stroll towards the rest of the ground crew.


	7. The oddities of William Laurence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurence finally gets out of the Covert and we scratch at the actual plot of HMD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait guys. I will graduate in a few months and therefore I do not have enough time to write fics or my own WIP for that matter, please know that I will atleast finish my alternative Version of book 1 and maybe if my life gets any easier after that I will continue with the other books and we will have Laurence actually grow up to be the fucking badass aviator he deserves to be.  
> As always none of my writing has seen a proper correction and English isn't my mothertongue so prepare for some sickening spelling errors.

Laurence kept true to his promise, staying with Genetrix and her crew, trying his very best to keep himself occupied with work, so no one would notice him avoid leaving the clearing.

Only occasionally sneaking off to the mess hall to get breakfast and supper, which - thanks to the friendly kitchen staff and Harley’s own habit of eating at Genetrix clearing – was often left for him in the kitchen alongside the meals of his captain.

On the downside, finding comfortable sleeping accommodations proofed to be quite the feat, since most of the runners were quartered in two big dorm rooms and word about the incident near the feeding grounds had spread.

He wasn’t a coward and therefor had spent the first two nights in the bed assigned to him, but when his sword belt had gone missing, only to reappear on one of the trees near Dover and he woke the second morning, to a scavenger hunt for his clothes only adorned in his underwear, he decided that maybe courage wouldn’t be as rewarding as having a good night’s sleep.

After all it wasn’t like he hadn’t been used to hiding before, even though it galled him to do so from his petty peers, who seemed just jealous that he had been assigned to Harley’s crew.

He would have understood their displeasure, considering that most runners had been with the corps since their seventh birthday and were still left unassigned, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying.

He attended all his lessons and got some of the ensigns and midwingmen to help him with his studies. Even Genetrix and Harley were all too eager to teach him new things, Harley going as far as taking him climbing on the rocky cliffs overlooking the covert.

Laurence, though normally not an eager student, quickly became a sponge for everything dragon related, not only because the extra lessons proofed proper excuses to stay clear from the other children but also because he genuinely enjoyed them.

He had already studied some of the flags before his failed attempt to join the Navy, so he quickly picked up on their general principles as well.

He kept Harley company whenever the dragon surgeon – Keynes – came to check on Genetrix and tried to memorize the anatomy, which Keynes tended to describe in great detail.

Officer Laiden proofed another benefit to Laurence education, since the man was practically a walking Bestiary. He also was very fond of sketching which was another skill Laurence was keen on mastering, even though he always had hated his art classes, but Genetrix looked pleased enough, if he managed to draw something resembling a yellow reaper on a very big piece of paper, so he wasn’t about to complain.

And when Keynes announced that there was nothing holding Genetrix in the Covert and they ought to return to Gibraltar, he certainly wasn’t raising any objections besides hinting at Harley’s shifty mood regarding their orders.

It was only when the groundcrew was harnessing Genetrix and the first men began to board, that Laurence mood was dulled by the sight of Harvey trailing Laiden to the clearing.

Genetrix who was shifting a little to test the placement of the harness buckles, noticed the boy as well and even though Laurence originally doubted her recalling any faces of the orphan’s she bristled and told Harley not so very secretively, that she wouldn’t have such a scrub on her crew.

Which brought her in the uncomfortable situation of either lying to her captain for Laurence sake or telling Harley about the incident.

“It wasn’t Laurence fault! I heard the whole thing, they were very rude”, she concluded practically glaring at Harvey.

An expression drawing a deep, frustrated sigh from Harley, who was already massaging his temples.

Laurence feeling guilty for both Genetrix and Harley’s distress made the effort of standing beside Harvey to declare, “Please don’t fret, it was a minor joke between boys and I am sure he will make a wonderful runner if he was picked for your crew.”

It took some more coaxing on Harley’s side but at last Harvey was allowed to board, even though Genetrix made sure he stayed away from most of her favourite crew members, at least where such a thing was possible.

The flight was rather uneventful and quite brief for they aimed straight for the coast and the transport waiting for them, an hour of flight over open water away.

Laurence felt the crew’s mood shift and realized with some discomfort that aviators didn’t seem to usually navigate the open sea. 

Which wasn’t fatal in their current position when they might turn around and fly back to the coast anytime they want but Laurence had heard stories of men getting shipwrecked and not encountering another ship for weeks.

And while a sailor in a dinghy with a well kept supply might survive for such a long period of time, even if barely, Laurence had a hard time imagining that there was anywhere to rest for a dragon of such a scale as Genetrix nor that there would be enough food and water to keep her nurtured. Not to speak of somehow keeping a crew of at least forty men alive in the meantime.

Lucky for them, the _William of Orange_ suddenly appeared on the horizon firing a greeting volley which was enthusiastically answered by Genetrix who gave a resonating roar.

She descended onto the otherwise vacant dragon deck which gave Laurence even more time to marvel at the size of the whole ship. She was a beauty different from the slim frigates he had been used to but non the less portraying everything he had enjoyed about his uncle’s accounts. He remembered quite well clambering about the rigging of his ship, burning his hand on the ropes and still climbing until he reached the crow’s nest, getting thoroughly clubbed afterwards for being so reckless.

It had been worth it and looking at the mainmast of the dragon transport he was quite tempted to try once more.

But with Genetrix crew clambering all over her to unload their supplies Laurence dived right into his duties unwilling to neglect his duty for mere curiosity.

Harley went to speak with the Captain, a mister Nicholas Cumming, which left Laiden in charge of the unpacking, normally an uncomplicated affair if it hadn’t been for Harvey who by now wasn’t only shunned by Genetrix but also many of the younger gentlemen on her crew.

Laurence hadn’t estimated that he would inspire such loyalty in such a short period of time, since most of his peers and even many of the officer he had met, preferred to stay clean of him if possible.

It was heart-warming to see his crew being completely opposed to this treatment, but the fact that they were shuffling around Harvey who hadn’t behaved badly at all since his arrival was a sour point Laurence was unwilling to allow to be continued any longer.

Taking hold of one of the heavy leather-rolls the groundcrew had brought with them to repair the harness straps he beckoned for Harvey to help and together they dragged it into the bowels of the ship, which were reserved for the aviator’s equipment.

He made a point of talking to Harvey all the while, even though the boy seemed increasingly confused by it. Nonetheless Laurence told him about every detail of the ship he recognized, which not only drew the attention of the aviators but also some of the sailors and at last Genetrix who had followed their progress with an expression akin to disapproval.

Laurence wasn’t to be bothered by that, thanking Harvey for his help before walking over to Sullivan who was shaking his head in disbelieve but none the less eager to bestow some of his duties on Laurence.

But after everything was safely stored and the crew had made themselves at home, they were left with nothing else to do, which seemed to be just fine for the aviators but left Laurence restless.

He tried to coax the other ensigns for lessons, but they were content to spend their few days off lazily lying around on the dragon deck.

A notion that made Harvey rise in popularity rather quickly since he wasn’t bothering anyone and preferred to engage with the younger officers in card games.

Laurence didn’t particularly mind sitting with them and listening to their exaggerated stories, but he found himself quite bored after three such hours filled with meaningless gossip and drifted towards Genetrix who intently bore witness to Harley’s and Laiden’s chess game.

He listened to her estimations for a while finding it peculiar for a dragon to take such delight in a game which always seemed rather silly to him. There were whole books written about different strategies to outdo your adversary and even though Laurence certainly hadn’t read a single one of them, it seemed silly to write about a boardgame when there were so many more important topics.

An opinion that made him a bad conversationalist considering Genetrix enthusiasm, which forced him to politely retreat from her and search some diversion elsewhere.

He could of course practice his own writing and in the process come up with something resembling a decent letter for his mother, god only knew there was enough to tell her about.

The thought of giving her an account of all he had seen and learned was exiting enough to make his way towards his cabin.

With only one dragon on board, not even a third of the spacious aviator’s cabins were occupied, which even allowed the groundcrew and runners like himself to have one of their own.

It seemed a nice idea, writing a long detailed letter, maybe starting a logbook, though he wasn’t entirely sure if he was qualified to list all the supplies that were used, he wasn’t even sure if he knew about all the things in Genetrix possession but with more than two weeks of voyage there were worse times to start learning about such things and the groundcrew-master seemed to appreciate Laurence endeavours into his field of work.

But before he could even reach the bowels of the ship, he spotted a boy roughly Sullivan’s age, despairing over a nearly blank chalkboard.

The boy was sitting on the railing next to the staircase that led to the dragon deck, a navy blue coat neatly folded beside him, there were ink stains on his otherwise virgin white shirt and his fingers clutched a chalk, which he had apparently tipped against his lower lip repeatedly.

He noticed Laurence frozen on the steps, his miserable expression lighting up to something resembling light mockery, “You don’t happen to be nimble with math?”

It clearly was meant as a joke, probably regarding the low standard of general education, Laurence had noticed among the aviators. Knowledge that didn’t stop him to walk over to the boy and peep at the chalkboard.

There was a row of numbers on it and a task formulation, that remembered Laurence suspiciously of his own lessons. A basic calculation if he understood correctly and even though he despised math far more than any literature lesson that had been forced upon him, he found himself taking hold of the chalkboard and running the numbers through his head.

The boy watched him write down some of the calculations on the board before nodding slowly, “I understand why the captain gets so frustrated with me, when a twelve-year old aviator can calculate better than me.”

Laurence bristled a little at the emphasis on the word aviator, “That’s inappropriate.”

The boy’s brow rose, “My apologies”, he extended an hand, “Jonathan Reid, midshipman on the _William of Orange.”_

Laurence accepted the offered hand returning, “William Laurence runner under Captain Harley on Genetrix.”

“A pleasure. You don’t suppose you could explain to me how you came to this conclusion. I gather the basic intent but some of these figures are beyond me. And you plainly had a better teacher then mine.”

Laurence nodded flinging himself into an explanation, leaving unmentioned that it had taken three additional math lessons to get the concept into his head.

Once Jonathan seemed satisfied with his ability to explain the process to Captain Cumming, he promised to tell Laurence wherever his calculations had been correct and as he hinted come back with another mathematical problem if Laurence was willing to lend his help once more.

Laurence was far from eager to accept but there wasn’t anything else to do and at least he could quiz Jonathan about his life as a sailor and maybe get him to explain the basics of navigation, since the crews panic during the search for the transport was still fresh in his mind.

He was well pleased when come morning Jonathan actually waited for him at the foot of the steps, looking rather smug and explaining that Captain Cummings had been well pleased and rather suspicious upon his sudden victory over the most basic mathematical problems and to Laurence great surprise he explained that he had told the Captain about Laurence involvement.

And that he was welcome during their lessons as long as Harley permitted it.

“You want to study math with the midshipman?”, Harley repeated Laurence request sounding rather dumbstruck than angry, though he eyed Jonathan dubiously.

The young officer had accompanied Laurence to the dragon deck and even if his curiosity had been replaced by anxiety upon Genetrix curious gazes at him, he stood at attention before Harley clearly picking up on the dragon captains concerns.

“Captain Cummings has invited all the young officers of your crew if they are interested. He is renown as a schoolmaster along the admiralty, with all due respect, Sir, I dare say that Laurence would only profit from it.”

Harley gave a low chuckle before nodding his approval, “I doubt you will be able to excite anyone else for this endeavour, but I won’t force you to twiddle your thumbs if you have found something other than gambling to occupy yourself.”

One gaze in the direction of a few belly-man and Harvey on the far end of the dragon deck brought Laiden to his feet and Laurence in Jonathans company took his leave.

Which was how he ended up in the company of several young officers who’s lessons were mostly taken by Captain Cummings himself shortly after the midday bell.

So for the upcoming weeks Laurence rose with the sun meeting with Jonathan and a few of his friends who were currently off duty, every hour he went to the dragon deck to make sure he wasn’t needed, most of the time he found Harley sitting with Genetrix and Laiden playing chess or just dozing in the sun. If Jonathan was on duty and no lessons to be had he went and joined them, finding himself more welcome there than with most of the younger aviators.

It was one of those beautiful morning where the dawn transformed the sky into molten gold.

He was walking towards Genetrix to inform her of Harley sleeping in, since he had been at dinner with Cummings yesterday and according to the ships gossip both Captains had been severely drunk.

Instead he found Genetrix resting on her forelegs, staring savagely at one of the midshipman Laurence had spend the last days with, his name was Timothy Ryan, he was of Irish decent and quite gifted at astronomy.

“You won’t stay here, will you?”, the dragon suddenly rumbled without lifting her head.

“No of course no. Why would you say such a thing?”

“You like to be with them”, her eyes darted towards the sailors in the rigging.

“They are very polite, very gentlemanly and I find it a fine quality for an aviator to be able to navigate properly. So I am just trying to learn as much as I can. But I wouldn’t trade my place on your crew for anything in the world.”

A pleased grumble escaped Genetrix throat.  
For a while they just sat there looking at the spray following the _William of Orange_ like a school of fish. Some more of the crew arrived on deck, greeting Genetrix before occupying their own spots where they would spend the remainder of the day chatting and drowsing until it was time to got to sleep again.

Harley was stumbling onto the deck, when Genetrix suddenly raised her head and the lookout in the crow’s nest bellowed “Ship ahoy!”

Harley pulled out his spyglass his eyebrows rising, “She’s flying the tricolour.”

Followed by the outlook screaming at the top of his lungs, “She’s French! The frogs are turning tale!”

“Oh”, Genetrix rose to her full height, “They are most certainly not.”


	8. The prohibitive prize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue about ships or sea battles but neither has baby Laurence at this point so lets just roll with it.

Harley’s attempts of calming Genetrix nearly resulted in her chasing after the French vessel on her own, so he ordered her harnessed and manned, Captain Cummings - begrudgingly following his lead - altered the _William of Orange’s_ course to pursue their target.

A transport was no ship for taking prizes but with a heavyweight dragon eager to give chase there was at least good money to be had.

His refusal might not only have easily ended in Genetrix death but also provoked open mutiny by the sailors.

And even though Genetrix was answering Harley’s concern by boasting with their previous successes even Laurence was aware that seizing an armed naval vessel was no joke.

Not for a single dragon, when all the fire of her guns could be concentrated on the attacker.

Once fully harnessed and manned, Genetrix was quick to fling herself into the air and close the distance. Already, Laurence was able to make out the small dots on deck, sailors rushing to their battle positions.

A few wingbeats brought them near enough to decipher her name, the _Amitié_ was written in elegant golden letters on her side.

There was a warning shot fired and Genetrix circled her for a moment, before trying her first attack.

Laurence didn’t know much about aerial warfare or warfare in general, but he knew one or two things about frigates and there was no way a fully manned ship would have given Genetrix the chance to rip off her mainsail and even more fatal drop it onto the sailors below.

Before they vanished beneath the white cloth, Laurence discovered that there were barely any gunmen stationed on deck and he only saw two of the great guns manned at all. 

Something that would proof terrific now that Genetrix first swipe had taken their chance of outrunning the dragon transports pursuit.

If anything they had ought to return to the _William of Orange_ and let the sailors take care of the rest, but when Laurence snapped out of his considerations, he noticed that Harley was shouting, and they were descending.

“They barely shot at us!”

“Exactly you wilful hothead! Somethings not right and there isn’t any space for you to land.”

Which didn’t stop her from trying, at first, until she nearly crushed some of the French sailors, still refraining from firing at her.

Laurence met the gaze of an officer, his cheeks were hollowed out, his gaze though horrified was accompanied by a dullness that made Laurence shudder and he was grateful when Genetrix withdrew turning towards the transport.

In a matter of half an hour the _William of Orange_ had caught up to the _Amitié_ there was fighting to be heard and Laurence watched from the dragon deck and the relative safety of Genetrix forelegs where she had ushered half of her crew, jealously watching over them.

Laurence couldn’t claim that it was a glorious fight, the British sailors easily outnumbered the sparse, nearly skeletal crew of the French vessel.

So far, the casualties were one-sided and non-lethal, occasional grunts of pain when a sabre or knife met flesh but not a single shot was fired and after a few minutes the French captain gave his parole and the British sailors were bathing in their victory.

Laurence noticed that most of the aviators were less mesmerized by the actual fight but rather by the prospect of prize money in which they ought to have a fair share.

Harley murmured something along the lines of the money belonging to Genetrix, but he sounded rather bemused and a little bitter, probably in expectation of a quarrel.

They watched on while Captain Cummings went about securing the _Amitié_ , the sight becoming more and more dull and some aviators, to the outrage of the sailors left behind, went as far as playing cards to pass the time.

Then a sudden burst of movement and Cummings stepping onto the rail and shouting through the speaking tube, “Captain Harley, there’s a bloody egg in the hold!”

\----

Laurence watched the procession with fascination, as did every other aviator. Genetrix groundcrew aided by a handful of experienced sailors had transporter the egg from the _Amitié_ onto the _William of Orange_ and were now under Genetrix unyielding gaze busy with securing it on the dragon deck.

Laurence managed to get a few words of explanation out of Sullivan before the ensign turned to his year mates to continue the ongoing discussion regarding the breed of the dragonet inside the egg.

As far as Laurence had gathered from Keynes, who was speaking to Laiden and Harley only two steps away, he suspected the egg to be of no common European origin and most likely a product from Chinese breeding. There was some expert on the matter who was to be counselled but the discussions died down when Keynes pronounced the egg due to hatch very soon.

“Two weeks at best”, Keynes took a quick glance at the egg, “I suppose even less.”

Which sparked a new more enthusiastic kind of discussion and more than one envious gaze was fixed on Laiden, who, as far as Laurence gathered, would get to captain the dragonet if it hatched on board.

Laiden exchanged an unhappy gaze with Harley, who looked at the egg with a sour expression, before making his excuses and beckoning for Laurence to follow, “I have to talk with Cummings, and you will translate every yarn he spins. If we can make it back to any covert before this thing hatches, we can count ourselves lucky.”

Laurence swallowed the questions on his tongue, instead concentrating on Cummings fast speech. The _William of Orange’s_ captain spoke at a pace that made it seem as if he was about to burst into song, something Harley didn’t appreciate at the moment, nor the Captains extensive use of Naval terms but the message was as clear as it was frustrating, there was no way they would make land before the supposed hatching.

“Even if we turn her around it would take at least two weeks to get in sight of the coastline”, Cummings concluded, accompanied by an apologetic shrug.

“And how long will it take us to reach Gibraltar?”

“About the same. We might land a few days earlier if the winds are on our side, but I doubt it”, a wry smile, Laurence had come to appreciate from his lessons, appeared on Cummings face, “Wrong time of year for the voyager winds.”

“Damn it”, Harley growled on their return to the dragon deck, rolling his eyes at Laurence chiding gaze. 

“Sir, may I inquire why this upsets you in such a fashion?”, Laurence couldn’t believe his rudeness but on the other hand, Mister Laiden was a very qualified officer and he would make a splendid Captain.

To Laurence surprise Harley didn’t appear to be offended by his question. In fact he looked rather wistful thinking about it.

“Laiden has been my first Lieutenant since Genetrix hatching and before that we served on Victoriatus together, he is one of my dearest friends and I would suffer greatly for his loss. Of course I don’t begrudge him such an opportunity, what I’m trying to say is…”, he looked at Laurence puzzled expression, feeling the fondness for the boy winning over his despair for the situation, “What I’m trying to say is that I will be hard pressed to find a replacement for such a man”, and tussling Laurence hair he added, “Since you are far too young to even be named ensign.”

Spying Laiden standing uncomfortably beside Genetrix and the tray on which the egg was displayed, Harley walked towards him the smile on his face more genuine than expected.

Laurence watched him go, curiosity leading his steps towards Genetrix and the egg, fully expecting to be turned down by the egg’s self-appointed guardian.

He could feel the envious glares directed at him when instead, Genetrix titled her head in greeting.

“Hello little one, have you any new insights on navigation you would like to share with me?”, there was a bemused undertone to her words as if she believed his interest to be silly, Harley certainly did but neither of them stopped him from babbling about it.

He found it a little odd that a man who was supposed to be his superior would allow himself and foremost his dragon to be so occupied by a boy he had taken under his wing only three months ago.

But as Laurence had learned, aviators were a peculiar bunch and there was no thought lost on what he preferred.

“No with the _Amitié_ on the horizon lessons were cancelled. I just thought you might appreciate a little company.”

“Oh, certainly looking out for these is always a rather boring task, especially at sea”, she inclined her mighty head towards the egg, lifting her talons a little so Laurence could see better.

As little of a qualified judge as he was, he thought it a handsome egg. Of extraordinary size though he had nothing to compare it to and the shell reminded him of the fine china plates his mother reserved for her favourite Ladies.

“Have you seen many hatchings?”, Laurence asked. After all if there had been occasions like this before, there was no need for Laiden to take the dragonet under harness now, was it?

But Genetrix disappointed him with a huffed, “Not a single one. The breeders are very peculiar about the hatchings, though I suppose I shouldn’t complain as long as they treat them carefully. The dragons hatching from my eggs are all splendid fighting beasts.”

“How many children do you have?”, Laurence inquired because it was clearly expected and added with a smile, “I have made acquaintances with Claritas, he appeared a more than decent dragon.”

Words that resulted in a conversation about all of Genetrix hatchlings and evolved into an explanation of dragonish mating habits, that had Laurence flustered and redheaded looking for any means of escape.

Luckily Harley picked the very moment Genetrix was launching into a detailed explanation of the respective sire’s benefits to draw her attention by patting one of her forelegs, “Old girl, Jacob and I are going to discuss the matter of the egg in private, I trust Laurence will keep you company in my stead. Don’t hesitate to bother any of these lazy dogs to cater to your needs.”

A thoughtful hum escaped Genetrix throat as she watched her Captain go.

“Something the matter?”

“Well if they were talking about _the_ egg, they would take Keynes with them.”

Following her gaze he found the dragonsurgeon leaning against the railing, browsing one of the big tomes he carried with him, supposedly searching for any clue to the egg’s origin.

Laurence unwilling to give Genetrix any reason to be anxious kept his mouth shut, supposedly Laiden and Harley were talking about who was best fitted to captain the dragonet and there was no reason to give her the impression of Harley being upset.

But Genetrix just shrugged, settled to curl around Laurence and the egg and noted casually, “They are probably mating, but you shall not tell anybody that I mentioned it. To be completely honest I am rather grateful, that Harley was considering enough to leave you in my company. Anyway have I told you about their last game of chess?” 

She had not but Laurence was very eager to pursue _any_ topic unrelated to mating habits.


	9. A peculiar hatching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the libaralistic nightmare has entered the scene! Prepare for a very soppy prolonged hatching because I have so many emotions for that scene.

“Can’t believe you picked that beast over a career as a Naval officer”, Jonathan Reid murmured looking with envy at Laurence chalkboard where a neat sketch of the British Isles was taking form.

Laurence might have been offended at the words, if it weren’t for the fond undertone in Reid’s voice that implied that he quite liked said beast.

He was still keeping his distance from Genetrix, but he laughed at Laurence’s anecdotes and had begun to compare her to his aunt Loise, who lived in Scotland and might even be an acquaintance of Laurence’s mother.

“I mean”, Jonathan continued good humoured, “The captain has estimated our share in the prize money and frankly said I feel like I have earned my monthly salary twice over by hitting a single Frenchman over the head. I suppose after my Lieutenants exam I will try to hire on a frigate and make myself a small fortune.”

“Money is a fine thing, but I prefer my lot, thank you very much. Is that supposed to be Ireland?”, Laurence asked after having a glimpse at Jonathan’s own sketch.

“Oh stuff it! At least I can play a decent hand of cards.”

“You mean you can cheat better than most of your fellow junior officers.”

“Your fellow aviators don’t seem to mind. Also that little Goblin is staring at you again. I suppose if it wasn’t for your forty-ton warden he would have tried to smash in your nose by now.”

“Harvey is quite alright”, Laurence reflexively returned.

“As long as you stay away from him?”, Jonathan guessed, looking with a similar distaste at the other runner as Laurence had become used to see on Laiden’s face.

Harley must have noticed too but he kept clean of such affairs between his crewmembers, as long as they didn’t compromise their work.

“It’s of course none of my business”, Jonathan thankfully subsided turning to look at Genetrix, “I suppose I can’t begrudge your choice, flying must be splendid.”

“I will take you on a flight once I have made Captain”, Laurence returned in the same spirit, Jonathan had offered a voyage to China on his fictional prize ship.

“Careful I will hold you to that promise.”

He opened his mouth to begin a new train of thought, when Keynes bellowed from bellow-decks, “Its time!”

The groundcrew-men burst out behind him, clearing the way for the tray on which lay the egg.

Laurence thought he could already see delicate cracks marring the porcelain shell and without thinking he dropped the chalkboard to rush after them.

To his surprise Jonathan followed him onto the dragon deck, closing the circle around the tray, which was supposed to prevent the dragonet from wracking havoc all over the ship.

Laurence had quizzed every crewmember willing to answer about the process of hatching and had received some aggravating answers. Even though Harley and Laiden had done their best to give him an objective account, their tense expressions and the chains waiting besides Genetrix talons were everything but reassuring.

Laiden was holding the harness, even though he kept looking at Harley as if he expected him to change his mind.

Harley looked grim but his jaw was set, and Laurence knew this expression well enough to mentally practice his congratulation to Laiden, hoping he wouldn’t rub any more salt into that wound.

Then there was a crack and even the last excited whispers died down as the shell split in two nearly perfect halves.

Laurence stared wide-eyed at the pitch-black dragonet, sunlight glittering on its smooth hide.

It looked around, before shaking himself, sending shards of the shell and some of the slime, still clinging to the scales, flying.

But no one moved, everyone was mesmerized by the first plodding steps before it grew bold and nearly pranced about the dragon deck.

Genetrix gave a huff of disapproval, taking the chance to size Harley, who had protested such treatment before.

They had broken the news to her, yesterday and even though she had begrudgingly accepted to give up Laiden, she wasn’t about to take any risks with her captain.

Laiden shaken out of his own stupor, approached the dragonet in a measured pace, lifting the harness so it could see it.

Not that this was of any use, when the dragonet wasn’t inclined to pay him any attention, rather exploring every inch of the ship in reach, even going as far as placing his forelegs on the railing to look wistfully at the horizon.

Laiden was about to address it, when it suddenly turned to study him, waiting as if it actually expected him to speak. 

“Hello there”, he started without much enthusiasm, but his speech was rudely interrupted by the dragonet loosing interest and wandering off to spy at another aviator nearer to Genetrix, who only lifted her talon and therefore Harley farther out of its reach.

Seemingly unconvinced it repeated the process with a few more, until some murmurs broke out and it continued, what appeared to Laurence, to be a search with purpose.

For his part, he was still occupied wrapping his head around the thought, that this little thing, which barely resembled any dragon he had seen in the covert, had just hatched from the - in comparison - unremarkable egg, he had sat beside while talking to Genetrix and on occasion also Harley and Laiden.

“If you will just stand there, I will try it myself”, one of the older officers grumbled, clearly on edge.

Laurence found it odd that Laiden wouldn’t make another move towards the dragonet, but he clearly wasn’t all too keen on the situation as a whole, which was no excuse for the rudeness with which this alternative was presented.

“Sir!”, it took a moment to recognize his own voice, “This is inappropriate.”

But before anyone would berate Laurence for insubordination, the dragonet’s head snapped around.

Laurence recognized the startling blue eyes of the little creature, before a considerable weight crashed against his chest and brought him to the ground.

“Oh it’s you! I should have recognized you right away. But pray tell, why are you frowning?”

Laurence wasn’t sure himself, if anything he thought himself to be gawking.

The dragonet was small, at least compared to Genetrix bulk, maybe the size of a big dog. But with twelve, a considerable amount of big dogs, were still surpassing Laurence own height.

He found the sensation of being crushed by a dragon rather unpleasant.

“Could you be swayed to move?”, he finally got out, his lungs desperately trying to move his ribcage.

“Oh certainly.”

Laurence found that the dragonet looked a little ashamed of himself - for the voice sounded rather masculine – and was now consciously tugging his wings to find a comfortable and as it seemed to Laurence, more dignified sitting position.

He scrambled to his hands and knees, figuring that he would have to stand up to meet the dragonet’s gaze.

On his way to his feet his eyes met a wide eyed Laiden, but the man was still not moving, so Laurence - as confused as he was - took it as encouragement.

Finally standing tall, he met the dragonets eyes, each of them the size of his palm, “I apologize. I was a little startled by your… uh approach.”

“Oh no”, the dragonet called out, ruffling it’s wings once more, distracting Laurence with the blue specks on their tips, “I am to apologize for I rudely squashed you! But you see I didn’t mean to be so reckless, I was only so excited to have finally found you. You see, there are an awful lot of people around”, he flicked his tale indicating the aviators surrounding them, now gawking themselves.

Laurence stood there, like a ship in the lee, his thoughts racing.

Why was Laiden not moving? Why was that hatchling speaking to him?

Laurence had been told that dragons acquired their first language through the shell, but even though he hadn’t expected the dragonet capable of such a… sophisticated speech.

“Are you upset?”, it asked, ducking its head not unlike Laurence when he expected to be clubbed for a particular stupid question.

“Oh… oh no. I’m surprised that’s all. Uh… Pray tell, why were you looking for me?”

The little dragon sat up straight, none the less reassured by Laurence insufficient answer.

“Well so you could harness me of course. And give me a name! Which I think is far more important, but you were talking such a great deal about harnessing that I thought it a requirement. Is it not? Because that”, he shot a pointed glance at the harness in Laiden’s hand, “Looks quite uncomfortable.”

Laurence gaze snapped to Harvey, then upon spying the utter terror there, to Laiden, who clearly resisted the urge to seek his captain’s reassurance, stepped forward until he stood side by side with the dragonet, offering Laurence the harness.

“It isn’t necessarily a requirement for a name”, he explained to both Laurence and the dragonet, “But it will put everyone at ease and allow Laurence to feed you.”

“Oh yes, Laurence I am terribly hungry!”

Laurence himself was a little startled by the familiarity with which the dragonet spoke his name but at least that made him grab the harness without thinking.

“Can I have a name first?”, the little dragon chirped rather excited, “But it must be splendid.”

Which, once more, left Laurence at a loss for words.

Laiden would have him harness a dragon?

Good god, he had never inquired how to properly name a dragon!

“I won’t have it!”, Genetrix suddenly burst out, surging into movement as if to grab Laurence, like she had done on the day they had met.

To Laurence terror the dragonet surged forward, positioning itself between him and the regal copper.

If anything the little thing would get snatched up alongside Laurence, but Genetrix was too startled by the ferocity of the movement and instead stopped mid lunge, sending many an aviator tumbling back and one particularly unlucky groundcrew-man nearly into the ocean.

“Get out of the way!”, she snarled and even though Laurence could see the dragonet trembling it stood its ground.

“I don’t see why you have suddenly become so nasty! You sounded very pleasant through the shell.”

“Me? Nasty? I’m not the one snatching over people’s crewmembers! First, I was to give you Laiden and I only agreed to that because Harley assured me it would speed up this whole blasted war but now you try to take my William! I won’t have it. You are too small and too stupid to take proper care of him.”

“Oh”, now he was shaking with rage, “I am not stupid, and you shall not have Laurence at all, now that it is clear that you are just going to be unpleasant if something doesn’t suit you.”

“Why pick someone else! Just leave Laiden and Laurence out of it. And Harley!”, she added with force, Laurence speculated the dragonet might have eyed him in consideration of Genetrix offer.

But he quite solemnly shook his head and wrapped his tail around Laurence leg.

“Would you be so kind to give me my name now?”, he inquired, nearly desperate while staring Genetrix down.

Genetrix was about to protest once more but now Harley started wiggling.

“To the devil with the two of you. Laurence just get over with it.”

Easier said than done.

What did one name a dragon?

His dragon.

“Temeraire” he blurted out, drawing a connection between pretty names, things he liked and unsurprisingly ending up with a ship.

Temeraire turned around, forgotten was the tail wrapped around Laurence leg and he found himself prone once more.

At least Temeraire was considerate enough to wait until he had found his footing, before proudly spreading his wings clearly presenting himself to Laurence and supposedly making the offer to be harnessed.

Laurence hands were shaking, but he managed to correctly administer the harness, finding that his fingers were simultaneously checking for anything that might have hurt the smooth black hide. Which, even though completely different, left him with the impression of petting a kitten’s fur.

Meanwhile Temeraire was joyfully babbling on, complementing Laurence for the choice of name and demanding an explanation, _after_ dinner.

Dinner became a quite pressing topic, once Laurence was done with the harness but nonetheless Temeraire allowed himself to be led to a cleared spot in the middle of the dragon deck where a goat was slaughtered and placed in a tub for him.

Just like Genetrix, Temeraire proofed to be anything but a clean eater, which left a very dazed Laurence searching for a bucket and blankets.

Both things were gladly provided by a Sullivan, who looked both extraordinarily happy and dismayed by Laurence new position.

Somewhere someone was fighting but all Laurence took notice of was the dragonet that after his feast, trotted to where he was sitting on the wooden boards and dropped its gory head into his lap.

Without any particular thought he started to clean Temeraire’s mussel, continuing with his talons and his spattered hide, following a routine he had acquired through administering Genetrix in the same manner.

He was surprised how quickly it was done, meanwhile another part of his brain took delight in the knowledge that at some point Temeraire would probably grow if not to Genetrix’s to a similar impressive height.

Keynes appeared at some point checking on the peacefully sleeping dragonet, which still hadn’t removed itself from his lap.

Laurence was mindlessly scratching Temeraire’s chin when Jonathan appeared before him, offering a genuine if somewhat baffled smile, “Well I suppose I will get a chance for that flight sooner than expected.”

Laurence returned his smile, though he was barely in the possession of enough wit for a decent conversation. Luckily Jonathan was on duty anyway and had to leave right after delivering his congratulations.

Both Harley and Laiden came to check on him, neither seeming very sorry though a little worried.

Laurence also called out to Genetrix, who looked jealously at Temeraire in his lap but for Laurence sake pretended to share her Captain’s enthusiasm.

It was not until Temeraire woke from his slumber, that Laurence mastered the turmoil of emotions threatening to burst from his chest.

“Morning”, he said, lacking the proper words to express anything of what he was feeling.

“It’s evening”, Temeraire observed before looking embarrassed again, “Oh you were greeting me. Morning, I slept very well.”

Laurence found himself smiling and he scratched Temeraire’s chin again, since his hand was resting there anyway.

The dragonet gave a pleased rumble, before snuggling up against Laurence once more, “I really like the name you know.”

“I’m glad to hear that. May I ask you a question?”

“Pray ask! I have waited quite some time to be able to talk to you.”

“Uh…”, Laurence shook his head, “Well see that’s exactly what I was interested in. It seems… a little odd, that you would be looking for me right after your hatching.”

Temeraire lifted his head, “Oh but it is not! I heard you talking to Genetrix through the shell and you had such a pleasing voice and all your conversations were making me want to hatch even sooner so I might participate. They became a little dull you know”, the last words were delivered in a whisper, “Though I suppose it’s not your fault, they don’t appreciate a good conversation. I will! I can promise you that, you may start at telling me about my name. It’s a ship isn’t it? You like ships? Maybe we can get you one!”

Laurence found himself staring at Temeraire, before he burst into full bellied laughter.

Heads turned towards him, but right now there was nothing in the world that could make him mind.

“It would be my pleasure. You see the Temeraire is a splendid French vessel….”

Their conversation carried on, until it was once more time for Temeraire to eat and as Laurence quickly discovered, after that he would fall asleep right away.

Curled up against Laurence once more, he found himself still on deck upon nightfall.

Just when the air grew chilly enough to make him wish for a blanket, Genetrix rose and not so subtly approached their spot.

“Are you cold, little one?”

Laurence smiled at her, feeling relieve flood his chest, when the great dragon curled herself around him and Temeraire.

“I suppose he isn’t that bad”, she suddenly admitted, after glaring at Temeraire for a solid minute, “He seems to like your talk about ships.”

“He does”, which earned the undisturbed Temeraire another affectionate scratch behind his wing joints.

“You really don’t want to come back?”, she asked, hopefully but without any pressure behind the words.

“Miss, it was an honour to serve as your runner, but I fear I have an obligation to Temeraire now. I apologize if this should upset you.”

She gave a thoughtful hum, “Well I suppose, I will have to make sure to teach him how to take good care of you.”

“If you are quite done with trying to lure another dragon’s captain away, how about you move so we can celebrate properly?”, Harley’s muffled voice called out.

Genetrix lifted one of her wings, watching with pleasure as Harley and Laiden joined them in their confinement, both men leaning their backs against her brought chest.

“So Captain Laurence, eh?”, Harley was shacking his head, “Lenton’s going to kill me.”

“He will be quite the handful, that one”, Laiden added, nodding at the sleeping Temeraire, “You sure about this?”

“Sure? Probably not”, Laurence’s eyes were fixed on the blue tinted wings tucked neatly against Temeraire’s side, “But I find that he is already very dear to me.”


End file.
